FINAL DAY THRILLS – 29 MARCH 2025
The season’s final day delivered some unforgettable moments, with multiple titles secured and standout individual performances making headlines. Leading the way was the Premier Women’s triumph in the 1-Day Final against OBC at Hagley Oval, where skipper Felicity Robertson’s unbeaten 105 was the defining innings of the match. But it wasn’t the only silverware of the day—Division 4 Goats, Division 5 Tamils, and Cavalier Cardinals T20 all claimed well-earned titles.
Felicity’s was one of three outstanding individual performances in the morning grades. Tom Agnew took his second Premier 9-fer with his 9-78, the highlight of the match at Sydenham Park in the Premier men’s match against Lancaster Park, which resulted in an exciting finish. However, take nothing away from the Championship’s Benji Bell, who secured his second bag of six wickets in the same match at Halswell Domain, as his 6-25 accounted for the Halswell 2nd innings and was hugely instrumental in leading a great team effort that avoided a dreaded relegation.
The afternoon grades had a wonderful afternoon, with wins in the three grade finals, and the last-day performances of all sides which saw all six teams finish with wins. A good all-round performance accounted for the Goat’s win; Arun Velusamy’s 64 and Niranjan Mani’s 5-16 were key to the Tamil’s victory. The individual performance of the day came from Hospital’s Jinto Mathew, who scored an unbeaten 132 against Merivale Papanui at Westlake Reserve.
It was an equally impressive finish for the youth sides, with four wins out of the six matches. The 1st XI concluded their season with a solid win over Shirley Boys’ High School, with Cardell Durdin (4-47) and Jamie Anson (4-31) leading the way with the ball, followed by a strong team batting performance in the run chase. With 6-25, Archie Nielsen stood out in the 2nd XI’s win, Cameron Fairhall’ s unbeaten 48 then finishing the job. The best rescue job of the day came in the 3rd XI’s match where no. 10 Blake Winter’s 60 got his side out of a real hole as they chased down 191 against Mt Hutt College. What should have been no surprise was Year 10’s Dylan Tullett’s 86 in their win over St Bede’s – Dylan’s latest score takes him to 283 runs at an average of 47 since the 2025 competition started in early February.
Some of the photos in this publication are also courtesy of Ash Hart’s Hartland Images.
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The final day of the match at Sydenham against Lancaster Park started with Park still having an outside chance to pip Burnside West for the 2-Day title if they could secure maximum points against Sydenham. For Sydenham, a win would secure second place.
Park was ahead in the match at 153-5 in reply to Sydenham’s 1st innings total of 144. Likely needing to win by an innings, Park batted on to try to get a substantial enough lead to then try to bowl the home side out for under that to gain maximum points. Unfortunately, Tom Agnew put paid to that plan with a superb bowling performance. With conditions favouring his form of accurate inswing bowling, Tom built on his five first-day wickets by picking up another four and finishing with an incredible 9-78 off 24 overs. Archie Goodrick will forever be the culprit who deprived Aggers of his 10th one by picking up the other wicket with his 1-34. Park, all out for 206, a lead of a mere 62.
Mention must be made of the best “non-catch” seen at Sydenham Park in many a season. With his back to the pitch, Matt McCall dived a foot off the ground over the boundary to stop a six a meter over the boundary and backflipped it somehow to the following-up Makenzie Thomson, who dived forward to catch the return. After a brief debate about whether Makenzie might have partially grounded it by doing so, Sydenham agreed not to claim the catch. However, whatever the truth was, it was a splendid piece of acrobatics, so much so that it was almost an anti-climax when Mitch Gardner took an outstanding running and diving catch back over his head shortly after. Certainly, there were some impressive fielding and catches taken in the Park innings.
Tom Agnew applauded from the field.
With Burnside West seemingly already taken the title by now, Park set out to get Sydenham out cheaply again and at least finish the season with a win. However, the home side started well with their new ultra-reliable opening pairing of Jacob Cotter and Akshan Gulati, putting on 53 for the first wicket, all but wiping out the deficit. Jacob was first out at that score for 26, but Akshan and new batsman Michael Robinson carried the score through to 83 before Akshan was the second wicket to fall with his score at 38. Michael was going well and ticking off the score but lost his next three partners cheaply.
Michael Robinson
Park’s understandable need to bat on in the first innings had taken too much time out of the match for Sydenham to seriously contemplate setting a total, given the time available to bowl their opposition out. But suddenly, when Michael was out for an excellent 52, and with the score at 134-6 and a lead of just 72, Park was in with a chance. However, Nathanael Paltridge (39), Tom Agnew (34) and Mitch Gardner (14 off 39 balls) did a great job in first steading the ship and then accumulating enough runs and winding down sufficient time that when the final wicket fell with the score at 221, the equation had become a far tougher one.
Nathanael Paltridge – important late overs innings
It left Park with 160 runs to get from the remaining 17 overs. It was a challenging task, but with the positive approach that Park takes to its cricket, they made an excellent fist of it. Mainly thanks to an excellent innings from young Kalhan Challu (74 off 49) and, in the middle order, from Josh McCarthy (29 off 20), the side maintained a consistent run rate of around 9-10 per over despite losing wickets repeatedly. The match was nearly won at 127-5, requiring 33 runs off the remaining three overs. However, Makenzie Thomson then bowled a critical over that only went for four and, more importantly, saw Challu out attempting a reverse sweep. The next over killed all ambition as Archie Goodrick picked up two consecutive wickets in an over that yielded just two runs, and at 113-8, with one over to go, Park quietly batted it out with the match finishing in a draw.
Thanks to umpires David Henderson and Darren Thomason, and congratulations to Burnside West University, who deservedly took out the 2-Day title.
Considering the significant loss of players over the off-season, this season has to be regarded with a pass mark – a mid-table finish in the 2-dayers and a semi-final appearance in the T20s, were only marred by a poor 1-day campaign. What was encouraging was the recovery in the quality of the top two sides’ squads that has been evident since February, something that excites for next season.
Full scoreboard & video highlights: https://live.nvplay.com/play/?tab=m_summary#m0417c37c-00de-4d78-9139-197fd817dded
Birdwood Café Premier Women
Sydenham Shone with a dominant performance to win the 1-Day Final.
The side made an excellent start to the match after winning the toss and choosing to field first. The Sydenham bowlers put on a brilliant display, bowling out OBC for a total of 173 runs in just 45.4 overs. While OBC started steadily, the Sydenham bowlers were on top form as a unit and maintained consistent pressure, preventing OBC from ever gaining momentum. Lizzy Cohr finished with outstanding figures of 4 wickets for 33 runs off 10 overs. Her pivotal spell played a crucial role in breaking through OBC’s middle order, while Beth Dodd also stood out with the ball, taking three wickets for 36 runs from her 10-over spell.
Lizzy Cohr
In response, Sydenham got off to a strong start with the bat, scoring 55 runs off their first 10 overs. However, they lost two quick wickets, which briefly slowed their momentum. Felicity Robertson anchored the innings superbly, scoring an unbeaten 105 runs.
Felicity Robertson
The pitch and outfield at Hagley Oval were in excellent condition, and Robertson made the most of it. Her knock included 16 boundaries, and she played a crucial role in guiding Sydenham toward their target.
Kate Craig
Kate Craig also played a vital supporting role, scoring 38 not out. Robertson’s composed century and Craig’s steady support led Sydenham to a well-deserved victory, as they chased down OBC’s total with plenty of wickets and overs to spare.
Thanks to umpires Brent Littmoden and Andrew Moulton
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Match report courtesy of Matt Bell
The last day of the season for the champs was a simple equation… win outright and secure a place in the grade for next season. The main threat coming from Halswell would always be the batting of Hardeep Singh and Halswell’s stubbornness in wanting to bat out the day. There were two changes to the side from last Saturday, with Cullen Crowe coming into the side to replace the injured Matt Bell and Zack Howe replacing the promoted Shevon Perera to the Premier Team.
The plan was for Carl Hooper and Dylan McArdle to take the new ball and bowl a full length to attack the stumps more to bring in the LBW, considering we had umpires for the match. Both the opening bowlers did a great job hitting good consistent areas and were rewarded with a wicket each. That set the scene for Benji Bell, the chief destroyer of the Halswell batting in the first innings, to come in at first change from the pavilion end after Carl Hooper and Josh Wedlake followed Dylan McArdle.
Benji Bell
The key moment in the game in Benji’s first over was when he found the edge of the bat from a Hardeep drive that was expertly caught at First slip by Dylan McArdle. It was a game-changing moment as Halswell were now 3-24 and still 88 runs from making Sydenham bat again. On an unresponsive wicket for the pace bowlers, Josh Wedlake worked hard for his spell without any reward and was replaced by Cullen Crowe. The spinners of Benji and Cullen settled into their work and bowled in tandem for the remainder of the morning session, and they were beating the bat and creating chances every over and, at the lunch break, had picked up two more wickets between them to have Halswell 5-43 at Lunch.
Carl Hooper finds an edge – out
After lunch, Zack Howe came into the attack to provide a different option and give Cullen a break while Benji’s leg-spin continued from the pavilion end. Zack secured an early breakthrough after lunch, and it was clear that the outright result was always going to happen. However, the team was mainly focused on collecting the four extra bonus points on offer for the inning’s outright victory, given the tight nature of the points table.
Thisum Lawrence was being defiant for Halswell and doing his best Rahul Dravid impression with a brick wall defence. Benji finally dismissed Thisum for six runs off 135 balls, and the wheels fell off the Halswell bus in the end. Halswell continued to try and dead bat everything to the very end, but with players all around the bat on a turning wicket, our spinners were too good for them and picked up the final three wickets quickly after drinks. The star of the match was undoubtedly Benji Bell, who, apart from the five overs from Carl Hooper, bowled continuously from the pavilion end for the rest of the day and picked up 6 wickets for 25, finishing the match with 12 wickets for 74 runs to go with his quick-fire 31 off 14 balls.
It was a fantastic effort by the team to be patient all day long, as Halswell were all out for 87 off 63 overs. The boys shared a celebratory drink in the sheds and blew the roof off the Halswell changing room with the team song. It has been a great past 8 weeks for the team, winning every Saturday, and it showed that when they can put out a consistent team, they not only deserve to be in this grade but should be title contenders for next season.
In the end, Sydenham finished 2nd in the 2-Day competition and mid-table across the three formats table.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/mens-championship/game-centre/b4c8b55a
Division 1
Match report courtesy of Richard Howe
Sydenham played Lancaster Park. The St Albans Park wicket looked similar to the previous week, where Syd had been one down in our second innings, still 104 behind. We had two replacements for our three out from last week – yes, a big 10-man effort was required to get a decent lead and then bowl Park out.
Things didn’t start well with Tom Sulzberger out for 12, followed shortly by Isaiah Prasad for two, and we were 3-27 after both were caught off mis-timed shots. Gaurav Jadhav was LBW to one that seamed back in and was out for 15. 4 for 54 became 5 for 54 as Cam Spriggs was caught for 16, and then Ajith Shetty caught to an exceptional catch for one, and we are 6 for 59. With Freddie Winsor still coming for work and us still 60-odd short of making Park bat again, there was genuine concern that Fred might turn up just in time to see us shaking hands with the opposition. A captain’s knock was called for but fell on deaf ears (well, poor technique), as he was cleaned up for 12, followed by Noah Dean and were had slumped to 8 for 67.
Fred had replaced Richard, and Oliver Garden was in for Noah. These two played an excellent hand, making good decisions on defence and punishing the bad ball. Oliver’s cross-bat pulls off anything close to being short were travelling to the boundary more often than not, while Fred played some lovely drives. A change of bowling ended the 68-run partnership, with Fred out for 27 (from 33). James Stackhouse joined Oliver and ended up 0 not out as Oliver finally miscued one and was caught two runs short of what would have been a well-deserved 50. His 48 coming off just 30 balls. Our 144 gave us a lead of 21…
Oliver and Noah (two of our three left-arm pace bowlers) took the new ball, each snaring a wicket. Park managing an 8 wicket win. Oliver had 2 overs 1 wicket for 5 runs and Noah picking up 1 wicket for 15 off 2 overs.
It was a really frustrating season for Div 1, now to be Div 2. What was pleasing was despite our poor team performances and many guys feeling frustrated that we couldn’t quite hit our straps often enough, the effort was there, and guys are keen to get this team back to Div 1
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/mens-division-1/game-centre/03238e3c
Division 4 Goats – WON
Match report courtesy of Ollie Philpott
(Yes a long report is permitted for title champions)
Div 4 Final – Sydenham Goats vs Merivale Papanui @ Sydenham Park 2
Having the foresight to apply long game tactics is one thing. Implementing, executing and finally procuring the rewards of said game plan is a feeling on par with any of the following
- Your final mortgage payment
- Enjoying the tender meat of a 2 day buttermilk brine mix for your fried chicken
- An elaborate ruse, tricking the ‘hot’ girl at school into being your school ball date
- Becoming a prominent TV personality and failed property developer in order to create a platform into which you can position yourself to become the president of the United States of America – twice.
The sheer genius of the GOATS victory in the top 4 final begins way back in the first game of the year against the same opposition. We lost that game by one run…dropped catches, poor running, extras galore – all part of an elaborate deception to lull the entire grade into a false sense of security. We all played our scripted parts, sinking to the bottom of the table, losing to every team except Heathcote (Dannenberg and Taylor decided enough was enough and felt maintaining a shred of dignity was necessary with a 300 run opening stand). It was just before Christmas the call was made by a wise old sage to help the new recruits keep faith. “Don’t worry lads, we’ll fart our way into the semis then win the comp, it’s what we do”
Ollie Philpott
And fart we did! From this point on we lost only one other game. Reaching the top four by a single point (thanks to a J. Taylor umpiring course!) Winning the plate final on the way to an unlikely double strike against a team that were firm favourites to win after dominating the round robin, ensuring their promotion to third grade next year will be filled with trepidation, self-doubt and likely a hefty serving of unworthiness.
The game itself ebbed and flowed drastically as any decent final should. We again lost the toss – just like last week – but the psychological damage we had inflicted in our victory then came to the fore early. A team that had prided themselves on their ability to chase all season switched tactics and opted to bat. A fiendish smirk planted further doubts in the oppositions captain’s mind as we knew the first mind game victory was ours.
Joe Taylor (Bowler) and Kyle Clark (keeper)
To our surprise and viewing pleasure, the openers changed to their two (and arguably only) best batsmen. We knew that breaking this partnership would be all we needed to do to open an end. Something C. Douglas thought he had done on his very first ball. Thudding into their best batsman’s pads, crease bound. The huge appeal turned down for “swinging down leg” An interesting excuse given Chris consistently bowls outswing. A similar dubious call from last week that may have had a lesser team slump shoulders and feel today was not our day. That feeling may well have reared its head again as P. Wickes was deposited into the Persian rug car park, but nay! Not this day! Sixes rained for a short time until J. Taylor induced the false shot. Caught by Philpott after initially misjudging the catch, and filling his tighty whities with faecal matter, the long fart to victory was underway.
The Goats settled into their work, dotting up more than a Yayoi Kusama artwork, and when Taylor again produced a bit of magic – finally deciding to bowl seam up and getting a peach to rip back into their finest batsmen and bowl him – we felt well in control. Another scalp by Joe and 3/89 at drinks was a great comeback after being 0/60 after 10 overs.
When the Sultan of Sydenham (J. Bennett) sweetly seduced a salty batsmen to guide possibly the slowest delivery of the year back onto his stumps from a yard down leg side, the collapse was on. Tight bowling and fielding and a double strike by C. Douglas had them faltering at 8/112 and we were looking to close the innings out. The final two wickets rode their luck, and royally rode the luckless Wickes (three inside edges going through the stumps) to a score of 153, the innings ended with a smooth catch by Marks off Wigley. Taylor narrowly missed out on a match defining 5 wicket haul with 4/31.
So chasing just under four an over on a ground that proved difficult to exceed 3 an over the week before – we had mixed emotions about our chances but knew we had more than enough squeaky bum experience to fart it home if we could take it deep.
Douglas, after a pregame net, was ready to take the game by the horns and demanded he open the batting. After some initial feeling out overs – and some exquisite leaving. Dougie found his range and began depositing sixes either end of the ground, with some sharp running from the spritely, effervescent T. Dannenberg a good opening stand was ended at 26 in just the 5thover. More urgency in the quick running from Taylor mixed with more fine stroke play pushed us a further 20 before Dougie wanted to go big on a ball cannoning into his stumps. Confidence remained high as despite losing wickets every 20 runs or so, every batter looked the goods with Clarke and Marks playing smart and eye pleasing innings around a rock of innings from J. Taylor.
The wheels felt like they were falling off the Papanui team as their captain began losing the plot at obvious not out LBW decisions and being called for no balls. The distain shown against the unflappable and arguably most honourable billy goat Bennett almost amounted to treason of the highest order. Just when things were running at their smoothest, a double strike! The loss of Taylor shortly after Marks sent a collective perineum clench through the side lines – but all tensions were forgotten when J.Taylor emerged from his work van decked out in his Sunday’s best for his Dad’s 65th party. What a distraction! SPECIMEN.
A strangely docile (some would say borderline comatose) G.Wigley and J.Harrington did a minor rebuild of the innings. But the double strike of Harrington and Philpott (a duck to match his efforts in last year’s final, left him pondering his very worth as a human) led to a fair few more sneaky squeakers on the sideline. We should have known better. As this brought C. Douglas to the crease. The king of calm – Colin the Clutch. Game over.
His first port of call was to drag the inner beast out of Wigley. Asking him to remove his helmet, he struck him briskly thrice across the chops. A couple of well-run threes later and Wigley’s blood was finally flowing freely, as were the runs, as watching these two dismantle the total completely relaxed our collective colons. Some crackling cuts and sumptuous leg side strikes had the fifty run stand up and victory in sight. With only four to win Chris copped a rough riser that had him glove their finest bowler’s penultimate delivery to the keeper. Leaving Wickes one ball to face to see him off….or one ball to slog the living hell out of it and gain some retribution for his earlier Brougham street barrage. The inner turmoil on the man’s face left us all not a clue as to what would unfold.
A searing yorker. A desperate clamp down.
The shot of the day undoubtedly a squeaky bum defensive inside edged smother from Wickes. What a brave and unselfish decision. Is there nothing this man won’t do for his team?
Naturally Wigley hit the first ball of the next over for 4. Bing. Bang. Boom. Goats are the champions. Wigley guiding us home with an unflappable 32 red. Important contributions from everyone (bar Philpott) proving yet again the Goats are more than the sum of their parts. Since their monumental rise from the wooden spoon position, everyone has contributed in meaningful ways to get us again to the pinnacle of the grade.
Three things in life are certain. Death, taxes, and the Goats don’t lose finals. WHAT! Now let’s put on some fresh undies and do it all again next year.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/mens-division-4-top-4/game-centre/474d8061
Division 5 All-Stars – WON
Match report courtesy of Abe Atherton
In an exciting one-day fixture at Elmwood Park #3, the Sydenham Division 5 All-Stars claimed a decisive six-wicket victory over Weedons MCL Seniors. Winning the toss and electing to bat first, Weedons MCL Seniors looked to take advantage of a quick outfield. Boundaries came at a steady pace, but Sydenham’s disciplined bowling attack kept them from building a dominant total. 70% of Weedon’s runs came from boundaries. Jacob Koster led the charge with an impressive spell, taking four wickets for just 33 runs in 7 overs. Tom Elliott (2-17) and Jaedyn Ward (3-36) provided crucial breakthroughs, ensuring that Weedons were restricted to 142 runs in 38.2 overs.
In response, the All-Stars made light work of the target, reaching 143-4 in just 21.3 overs. Tom Elliott anchored the innings with a well-paced 48 off 49 balls, while Jaedyn Ward (31 off 33) and Gurinder Singh (25 off 32) contributed valuable runs. 53% of the runs came in boundaries. The chase was further eased by extras (23 runs), helping Sydenham secure a comfortable win with plenty of overs to spare.
A dominant performance with the ball and a composed chase secured an important win for the All-Stars. We will not be speaking about ‘catching’ or lack of.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/mens-division-5-bottom-4/game-centre/8db13653
Division 5 Tamils XI– WON
Match report courtesy of Chidambaram Palaniappan
Div 5 Finals – Sydenham Tamils vs Marist Harewood Purple Goannas @ Hagley Corner 5
Winning the toss, the Purple Goannas chose to bowl, and we were happy to take the opportunity to bat first. Unfortunately, our top three batsmen struggled on this crucial day, leaving us at a challenging 30 for three after 10 overs. However, the partnership between Arun V and John proved to be the turning point in our innings. John held the fort at one end while Arun played freely at the other, with the scoreboard ticking over consistently. Together, they guided us to 102 for 3 in 26 overs. John began to accelerate but was eventually dismissed for 21. Arun played a match-defining knock, scoring 64 runs. With another 14 overs remaining and all of our powerful batsmen still to come, we were eyeing a total of around 180-200 runs. However, as we aimed for a big total, things quickly took a turn for the worse. At 122 for 4 in 32 overs, we lost the next 6 wickets for just 25 runs. The Goannas’ bowlers put the pressure back on, executing superb spells that helped them regain control of the game.
Though we didn’t set the target we had hoped for, we were confident in our deep bowling lineup. The long boundaries and slow outfield would make the chase difficult for the Goannas. As always, Ashok set the tone for us with the ball, picking up the first three wickets without conceding many runs, including the prized scalp of Bonzi. Ashok finished with figures of 3/33 from his 7 overs. Niranjan, once again, delivered a stellar performance, taking a fifer to bring his season tally to 3. He finished with exceptional figures of 5/16 from his 8 overs—one of his best performances of the season. Vignesh also bowled a disciplined spell, conceding just 16 runs from 6 overs, including 3 maidens. With regular wickets falling, the Goannas were reduced to 9 for 105 after 34 overs. At this point, we felt the game was firmly in our hands and began preparing to celebrate. However, the last two batsmen mounted a determined resistance, adding 34 runs over the next 5 overs, bringing the target tantalizingly close, with only 7 runs required for victory. Raavan bowled the last delivery of the 39th over and took the final wicket, securing the win for us.
Our fielding was also significantly improved compared to the previous two games, contributing to overall performance. It was an intense final, fought hard between two very strong teams, but we managed to edge out the Goannas for the third time this season.
We received excellent support from friends and families, who turned up in large numbers to back the team. It was also a pleasure to have senior club committee members Graham Harris and Ivan Thomson visit the ground early in the game to wish us well. Ending the season by winning the Div 5 title was the perfect conclusion, and it was time to celebrate our well-earned victory.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/mens-division-5-top-4/game-centre/2c169f91
Cavaliers Cardinals – WON
Match report courtesy of Colin Paintin
T20 Finals – Sydenham vs East Shirley @ Polo Grounds
The Cardinals played East Shirley in te final at the Polo grounds. We rocked up to a sun bathed immaculate looking Polo grounds for the final of section 2. Confidence was high after a comprehensive victory two weeks previously against East’s, but the boys knew they still had put on a performance. They did that and then some. East’s won the toss and inserted themselves on a very flat looking artificial. Queenie and Bam took the new ball with both bowling excellent opening spells. Bam dismissed East’s dangerous opener and also grabbed a second, whilst Queenie was unlucky not to pick one up with a couple of drops that will be quickly forgotten after some celebratory beers. Geo and Kezza came on first change, both keeping the pressure on the East’s batters.
A small partnership threatened to put a decent total on the board but once Geo broke it the middle to lower order offered little resistance. Smitty came on and found himself on a hat-trick after two superb catches at the notorious catching position of deep third man by Wolfy. The catches made the more impressive in the fact Wolfy was fielding with a broken rib picked up two weeks earlier against the same team. After a slight accountancy error Stokesy was forced to bowl the final over and duly picked up the final two wickets off three balls. One of which was a particularly sharp piece of work behind the stumps by Camo. 110 the final total and the Cardinals very happy with their work.
The traditional Dou Bro order was established, which saw for the second week in a row, the dual leftie combo of Geo and Camo striding out to the middle. Both continued their imperious form, seeing off some hostile bowling from one of the East’s opening bowlers. Both openers departed in quick succession having broke the back of the chase. Stokesy and Keza came together and also took to the East’s bowler’s before Keza holed out. Leaving Cole and Stokesy to see things home and to secure a first grade title for the Cardinals in a few years. Section 2 wasn’t perhaps the level we wanted to find ourselves in but the boys showed their class post Christmas and should be proud of the dominance shown of the section.
On to our sponsors The Wigram Good Home for the traditional celebratory Bacardi Breezer strawpedoes and maybe a beer or six. Up the Cardinals.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/cavaliers-section-2-t20/game-centre/55ad55cd
Masters Cardinals – WON
Match report courtesy of Anak Lumb
The last game of the season for the Masters Cardinals saw us take on Burnside Robbies on Sydenham 3.
The pitch looked good but the outfield was very lush for this time of the year, and it proved to be slow throughout the match. Cardinals batted first and had a slightly mixed batting order ensuring a very strong tail – which would come in handy later in the innings. Both openers were lost fairly early (A Lumb 7 and K Julian 6) and when bowling restrictions were lifted after 8 overs the Cardinals were 18 for 2. T Hannan (28) and K Scott (42) then put on a good 70 run partnership to take the Cardinals to drinks with the score at 80 for 2. Soon after drinks both Scott and Hannan fell quickly to Mayo who was proving difficult to score from. D Hardy added 4 before also being bowled by Mayo.
Tim Hannan takes a six over long-off
The Cardinals were looking a little shaky at 98 for 5 in the 27th over. However, the Cardinals plan to bolster the tail now came to fruition with some hard hitting from J McKay (22), G Ross (34 NO), C O’Connell (20) and P Walker (23 – including 18 off the penultimate over) – with 92 runs being scored off the last 10 overs. B Walker finished off the innings with a lovely 4 to midwicket and the Cardinals finished on a respectable 203 for 8. Best of the Bowlers for Burnside was Mayo with 3/21 off his 8 overs.
Kelvin Scott
With a lush outfield still making boundaries difficult the Cardinals felt confident. That feeling fell away quickly as the Burnside openers raced to 70 for 0 after 11 overs. McKean had scored over 900 runs for Burnside this season so when he fell to Hannan for 28 following a well caught catch at point, the Cardinals were relieved. Hannan took 2 more quick wickets and then also claimed Summers for a well played 66. Burnside was 112 for 4 after 18 overs – all 4 wickets taken by Hannan and the Cardinals felt that they were back in the game. Wickets continued to fall at regular periods with D Hardy taking 3 wickets in his 5 overs. Bowling also became miserly with K Julian bowling tightly at the Port Hills end. Despite a few dropped catches at the end of the innings, the Cardinals were able to finish off the tail with a nice catch on the long-on boundary by P Walker off the bowling of O’Connell for a well deserved 28 run win.
Bowlers: Hannan 4/39 off 8, Hardy 3/22 off 5, Julian 1/18 off 8, O’Connell 1/23 off 4. A great finish to the season for the Cardinals, beating both Burnside teams with come from behind wins over the last 2 weeks.
Player of the day – Tim Hannan for his well played knock of 28 and his 4 wickets that destroyed the top of the Burnside batting order.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/joes-garage-masters-top-8/game-centre/8ee24345
Masters Hospital – WON
Match report courtesy of Matt Gilling
Sydenham Hospital faced MPCC at Westlake, a wise decision by both captains to play on the artificial rather than risk an unpredictable Bradford. Captain Bruce Day skilfully guessed erroneously at the toss keeping his record almost immaculate for the entire season and MPCC decided to bat first.
They started reasonably well, but Jinto Mathew, although initially a bit expensive, took the first two wickets, with Rahul Mukherjee absolutely miserly at the other end. 25/2 after 6 overs. MPCC steadied the ship, getting to drinks 82/2 – a good base, 200+ looking likely.
The breakthrough came immediately after drinks break with an excellent hunt, pick-up and throw from Tim Suddaby to secure the run out of the dangerous Hume (25). A regular fall of wickets kept things reasonably in control except some lower order resistance from Cartmell (27) and Price (18*)
MPCC got through their 40 overs 186-9. Bowling: Rahul 7-1-12-2, Jinto 8-0-53-2, John 6-0-17-2, Matt 8-0-40-2
Century maker Jinto Mathew
Opening the batting was Bruce and Jinto. The pair put on an opening stand of 100 by the 17th over with the boundaries flying – mostly from Jinto’s bat, but also 4 from the captain’s bat, as he guided his young padawan to an excellent innings. The first… and last, wicket fell at 146. Sydenham Hospital gaining victory in the 33rd over. Jinto Mathews 132*, Bruce Day 33 & Tim Suddaby 20*
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202425/joes-garage-masters-bottom-6/game-centre/0152edf4
DIVISION 1 WOMEN
Sydenham’s Division 1 Womens team fought hard in their match against OBC. Batting for all 20 overs, they reached 65 runs. Chelsea Pryor was the stand out batter scoring 26 runs, which really changed the atmosphere for the team..The team showed great determination, and the new players gained valuable experience. Unfortunately, OBC was too strong on the day, chasing down the target without losing a wicket in just 8.3 overs. Despite the loss, there were plenty of positives to take from the match. Sydenham’s ability to bat through the full 20 overs was a sign of their resilience and potential for future matches
Youth First XI – WON
Match report courtesy of Daniel Herd
The Sydenham First XI met their Shirley counterparts once more in the Cup 3rd/4th playoff. With both teams having achieved their primary season goal of promotion, this was a day for having an enjoyable match with a little less pressure.
Cadell Durdin won the toss and elected to play to our strength all season and bowl. This turnout to be a very good decision, with Durdin (4/47) and Jamie Anson (4/31) making early inroads. By the time they’d both bowled their 6-over max spells, Shirley were 5 wickets down for 52 runs. Al Derry (as wicketkeeper) had four catches – including a couple of regulation edges, an excellent take diving to his right and one off a top edge requiring about 20 metres of ground to be made. Sydenham didn’t let up with bowling changes – Henry Hood (2/19) and Josh Chapman (6 overs for 13 runs) not allowing Shirley any freedom. Durdin and Anson came back on to clean out the innings for 130 runs.
The batting group was very keen to work on building strong platforms – in preparations for the bigger totals that will be required at Champs level. The mission was achieved – with the score 1/30 after 10 overs, 3/99 after 25 overs, and the total passed in the 32nd over with 4 wickets down. Isaac Tutt (29) batted well at the top supported by Sam Johns (13), before Will Herd (32) and Jaxson Moynihan (33*) put on a 77 run partnership. Conway Andrews hit the winning run to end 1*.
This was a good end to a very good season, which has seen every player in the squad (including the four 2nd XI boys who have stepped up) make important contributions to key matches. It’s been a real team effort to ensure Sydenham gets the opportunity to compete at the very highest level of youth cricket for the second year in a row. Roll-on October!
Youth 2nd XI – WON
Match report courtesy of Paul Durdin
The 2nd XI faced off against the Shirley Boys HS 2nd XI in a playoff for 3rd and 4th in the Plate Grade. Sydenham had some unfinished business to attend to having drawn with Shirley earlier in the season. To mix things up a little, the batting order was drawn randomly with the bowling order being the inverse of the batting line-up. The wisdom in that was immediately questioned when leading strike bowlers Quinn Helms and Louie Harris were drawn to open the batting. Nevertheless, we pushed ahead with the plan and Sam Macdonald sent Shirley into bat when he won the toss.
Harry Durdin opened the bowling with his leg-spin and picked up the first wicket (6 overs 1 for 22) thanks to a neat catch from Louie Harris at short cover. Leif Kitto and Liam Beck bowled economically but without reward (Leif 6 overs 0 for 5 and Liam 6 overs 0 for 13). The 2nd and 3rd wickets fell to run-outs thanks to good work from Louie Harris and Harry Durdin. Archie Nielsen picked up his first wicket when he grabbed Shirley’s opener for 46. Lucky Lasiyal bowled tidily (4 overs 1 for 15), as did Jaxson Stove (3 overs 0 for 5). However, it was Archie who was the star of the fielding effort, eventually grabbing 6-wickets (6.5 overs 6 for 25). Shirley dismissed for 120.
Louie Harris (9) and Quinn Helms (26) made a solid start, punishing loose deliveries and putting on 31 before Louie fell. Quinn followed shortly after as did Thomas Wedlake (6) and Sam Macdonald (4). What followed was an excellent partnership between Cameron Fairhall (48 not out) and Jaxson Stove (17) before Jaxson was run out in a mix-up. Leif Kitto joined Cameron in the middle to knock off the final few runs. Sydenham comprehensive winners by 5 wickets with 25 overs to spare.
The 2nd XI can feel extremely proud of their results this season: 5 wins, a winning draw, a loss and a postponement. The postponement coming at the most inopportune time against a team that had not won a game, whilst also postponing the game between the first and second ranked teams. I have no doubt the 2nd XI boys would have given the grade a mighty shake had they made the final.
The 2nd XI is looking forward to moving up to Bowl grade in the Spring and continuing to support the 1st XI as required.
Archie Nielsen
Youth 3rd XI – WON
Match report courtesy of Bevan Williamson
Today we faced off against Mount Hutt College 1st XI again for the 5th V 6th playoff at Cashmere High school. The team vibe felt good, and we won the toss and elected to field with success in the very first over to have the visitors at ½ in the first over. Unfortunately for us, the killer instinct seemed to be absent and although we managed to pick up wickets regularly, we still allowed Mt Hutt to score far too many runs with dropped catches, and at times, some wayward bowling. Mt Hutt were eventually dismissed for 187 from 41.4 overs. Similar number of overs it took to dismiss them in the previous weeks game, but with 80 odd more runs to get…
Our chase got off to a reasonable start with Kingy and Utkarsh opening and were looking good until we lost Kingy at 36, and then Utkarsh on 41. Rebuild time. There was definitely effort to do this, however some good bowling from the visitors coupled with some shall we say, interesting shot selections, we lost wickets at 80, 93, 96,103, 103, & 105. To say that at 8 for 105 we were in a spot of bother, would be a supreme understatement! Now, I had seen Blake Winter bat in the nets a couple of times and I was pretty confident he could bat. With this in mind as Blake was about to head out into the middle I said “hey Blake, just go for it mate. Have a go” Blake asked, “are you sure”? My reply? “100%. Go for it”!
Enter Blake “the man” Winter! He proceeded to not only smash the Mt Hutt attack with some amazing power hitting, but he also played some beautiful cricket shots to dispatch them at will. Blake was on the charge and slowly he began whittling down the deficit from 83, to 70, to 60, to 40. Drinks came. This is fantastic, keep it going boys, we can do this!! 40 became 30, then 20, then 10 and a fantastic 50 for Blake!! All of a sudden it was only 2 runs required!!! Blake looked to put the icing on the cake but was tricked by the spin and was stumped on 60 off 34. He was given a standing ovation on his departure from the middle. Callum asked me how many we needed to win, and I told him we only need 2 more mate. You’ve got this.
I’d be lying if I said that there weren’t any nerves at this point. The next 10 deliveries were dot balls and the tension just grew!! The very next ball Callum turned off his pads to take the tying run. Zach, skip, skipper. It’s all you now fella. Here’s a young man who had spent the best part of 30 balls feeding the strike to Blake, and now the winning of the game was on his shoulders. Nervous? Didn’t show it. Flicked the very next ball through the field for 4!! What a captains knock!!!! The boys charged on to the field and there high 5’s flying everywhere!!
Overall rating for the game: 10/10. Cricket’s a funny old game, and you just never know when you’ll discover something special…
Youth Colts – LOST
Match report courtesy of Callum Green
The Colts played St Bedes Colts on St Bedes No1. On a poor wicket, Sydenham chose to bat first so as to put a score on the board. Unfortunately, Sydenham’s batting wasn’t consistent enough and were dismissed for 97. A few players managed to occupy the crease with Braithan Davies making a hard fought 19, along with Jonty Rutherford and Reuben Peterson making 11.
To win, Sydenham had to bowl well and put the ball in the rights areas. As a bowling unit they couldn’t do this, with only Benji Williams applying himself consistently. Ruan Diederiks, bowled well too, but without reward. The other bowlers were too inconsistent and allowed too many bad balls to go for runs. Williams ended up taking a superb 4-26 off 14 overs. St Bedes got to 98 in the 28th over. A disappointing end to the 1st half of the season.
Thanks to the parents and Nicol for scoring.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/2025/cricket-express-colts-declaration/game-centre/75fd6d37
Youth Yr 10 – WON
Match report courtesy of Pim de Monchy
Long wet grass in the outfield greeted the boys for an agreed 10:30am start against St Bede’s for our last game of 2024/25. We lost the toss and were sent in to bat, and restricted to 71-3 from our first 20 overs. There must’ve been something fiery in Dylan Tullett’s drink as came back out and started smoking the ball back over the bowler’s head with disdain, increasing the run rate from 3.5 in the first half of the innings to 6.5 in the second to finish on 201-9. Dylan’s 86 from 77 was supported by 16 from Remi de Monchy and 14 from Luke Griffith. Benny Wilkinson was looking good too until an unfortunate run-out occurred.
Big runs on the board gave the boys confidence as they headed back out with the ball. Angus Ferguson smashed middle stump with the first ball of the innings and the tails went up even further. The easterly cross wind perhaps partially explained it, but the Sydenham bowlers conceded 55 extras. With 12 overs to go the equation was 44 runs to win with 2 wickets in hand. St Bede’s clawed their way up to 177 when their set batsmen skied one to deep midwicket, and despite looking straight into the sun Benny Wilkinson pouched the catch. The last wicket fell one run later to give Sydenham the victory by 23 runs. Angus’ topped the bowling stakes with 3/19, followed by Nakul Singh with 2/7 and Luke Griffith with 2-14.
The Sydenham Year 10 team finished the term with five wins and two losses, placing third out of eight in the grade. Thanks to Mark Williams for his coaching and management over the term.
Full scoreboard: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/2025/cricket-express-year-10/game-centre/da3f8512
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